


Lavender Brown: Hogwarts Champion Extraordinaire

by StellaStarMagic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Romance, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-23 01:26:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23003536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaStarMagic/pseuds/StellaStarMagic
Summary: When Lavender Brown's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire as the fourth champion, no one quite knows what to make of it. Except for Harry, who firmly believes that it should have been his name coming out of the Goblet and thus vows to help her get through the tournament alive...at all costs.
Relationships: Lavender Brown/Harry Potter
Comments: 45
Kudos: 175





	1. The Fourth Champion

**Author's Note:**

> I was formerly known as ynmidk and am slowly uploading old fics. If you are curious about my old account or the rest of my fics, there's a short explanation on my FFN profile page.

"Lavender Brown."

The Great Hall hushed into stunned silence at that name.

They expected to hear someone else's, Harry was sure. He knew he did.

The blonde's giggles from before – he could hear them clearly since she was seated just a bit farther down to his left – had stopped completely. It was odd to not hear Lavender's laughs and giggles in the background in a location like this. It wasn't like he was paying particular attention to the blonde, not by any means. Now in his fourth Hogwarts year, she had simply become this kind of ambient noise in certain locations, and it would be noticed immediately if it wasn't there. The closest thing he could compare it to would be the sound of the TV when Vernon would be home after work. It simply was there – that noise, those sounds. Like Lavender's laughs and giggles when they were in class, in the Great Hall or in their common room. Part of the ambience.

But now, she looked shell-shocked.

"Th-that's not – I'm not-"

Harry could relate. And understand.

Maybe not exactly understand because he didn't, really. It simply made no sense for the violently shaking blonde's name to appear out of the goblet. _His_ name would because he was Harry Potter and these kinds of things seemed to be coming his way, whether he wanted them to or not.

"Miss Brown, please," Dumbledore's voice echoed through the Hall.

"But I didn't! I-I didn't!"

Despite her protests, she got up and walked on shaky legs to the room behind the staff table. Her arms were wrapped around her midriff as if she were hugging herself or shielding herself from the stares. Usually, she enjoyed the attention, but Harry knew that this kind of scrutinizing attention was anything but enjoyable. She looked pitifully alone right now.

"Bloody hell...what just happened?" Ron asked the question everyone was wondering.

"I don't know...and I'm sure Lavender doesn't either. She looked terrified," Hermione muttered, and Harry silently agreed.

There was _no way_ that Lavender had anything to do with what just transpired. "I don't think it was supposed to be her name in the goblet," Harry finally voiced his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked him, but Hermione understood immediately.

"You think that was supposed to be your name?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded with a grim look. "Nothing else makes sense. Just think about the last three years? Now a fourth champion here? How does Lavender even fit in there?"

His friends looked thoughtful, neither of them able to come up with an answer. He didn't expect them to. He still wasn't sure if his theory was right. It felt uncomfortably self-centred, but it was the only thing that made sense in any shape or form.

The Headmaster then dismissed the students. There were immediate hushed whispers and discussions going on, and Harry was not the topic for probably the first time. It should be him, though. He couldn't even find it in himself to feel relieved for not being the one everyone would be talking about. It felt wrong to be freed of such scrutiny at the cost of some innocent bystander being thrown into it.

After leaving the Great Hall, he turned to his friends. "Go on ahead. I want to talk to Lavender."

"What for?" Ron asked in confusion, but Hermione just huffed at the redhead after smiling at Harry.

He chuckled as he watched Hermione drag a half-heartedly protesting Ron up the stairs and towards the Fat Lady's portrait.

* * *

Lavender stepped into the antechamber, her stomach twisting painfully into a bundle of nerves. Upon entering, she saw the three champions in their separate corners of the room – Fleur Delacour sitting elegantly on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, Viktor Krum standing with crossed arms by the fireplace and scowling at empty space, and Cedric Diggory inspecting a bookshelf with feigned interest.

"Wat eez deez leetel girl doing 'ere?" the French Veela asked haughtily, and that was almost enough to snap Lavender out of her stupor.

However, the voices of the people responsible for this mess were getting louder, and moments later Dumbledore, McGonagall, Crouch Sr, Bagman, Snape, and Moody were standing in the antechamber.

Bagman made a grand spectacle of her being the fourth champion and how unbelievable and splendid it was. She neither wanted nor needed this stupid tournament.

She was ready to knee Bagman in the bollocks for his grand announcement of her predicament. However, when her Headmaster finally spoke to her, she could have wept in relief.

"Miss Brown, have you put your name in the goblet?" Professor Dumbledore asked gently, seemingly not angry with her at all.

"N-no, Professor."

"Of course shee eez lying," the French giantess of a woman threw in with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm not lying!" Lavender insisted, her voice rising in octaves she hadn't thought possible. "I swear! Professor McGonagall!" She turned to her Head of House, her chin wobbling and tears threatening to fall. She was on the verge of sobbing hysterically.

"I believe Miss Brown," the Transfiguration Professor stated immediately, making Lavender slump in relief. "The worst thing she has done so far was to partake in the Hogwarts rumour mill–"

_Excuse you, Professor, but the rumour mill is Hogwarts's greatest asset._

"–Pulling a stunt like this is simply too out of character. Look at this poor girl! She is beyond terrified."

Lavender nodded animatedly – truer words had never been spoken after all.

"It doesn't matter," Durmstrang's Headmaster said dismissively, not even so much as glancing in her direction. "Dis is a second champion vor Hogwarts! Is dis your sense ov sportsmanship, Albus?"

"Just remove my name! I don't want to die! I don't want to be a champion!" Lavender begged desperately. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

"Not possible," Crouch Sr stated confidently. "You must play your part in the tournament or forfeit your magic."

"How can deez girl last long eenaff to matter?"

Lavender whipped around to glare at the haughty French girl who was looking down at her – even from her sitting position! – with pure arrogance. Who did she think she was? "Listen here, you–" Her anger at the Veela's words evaporated quickly once Crouch Sr's words actually started to register. "Oh." So this was how she was going to die. Not as an old lady in her sleep surrounded by her children and grandchildren, no. She was going to die because someone put her name in the Goblet of Fire for it to be dragged as a champion for a magical bloodsport.

They kept on talking while her mind was still trying to grasp her predicament. She couldn't really comprehend her situation yet and barely caught Bagman say that there'd be no hint for the first task.

"Miss Brown!"

She was startled out of her daze by her Head of House.

"Head up to the common room, child." McGonagall gently pushed her towards the door. "Perhaps send your parents a letter. I will too once I have spoken with the Headmaster."

Lavender stepped out of the antechamber, still half in a daze. She hadn't even realized the meeting had been over.

* * *

He leaned against a pillar outside of the Great Hall's entrance and waited, wondering what was going on in that room, what was being said, and how Lavender was doing.

He didn't know her, really. All he had were Hermione's offhanded comments about the goings-on in her dorm room, and they rarely were kind. It may have skewed his opinion a bit on the other Gryffindor girls from his year.

He wasn't sure how much time had actually passed, when he heard small hasty steps coming towards him, accompanied by sniffles, and he was sure that it had to be Lavender.

Sure enough, the blonde came into sight a moment later.

"Hey," he began and obviously startled her if the slight jump and surprised gasp escaping her were any indicators.

"Sorry," he added sheepishly.

What he did not expect as a follow-up-reaction was her suddenly throwing her arms around him and starting to cry.

He stiffened immediately and had no idea what to do, so he just opted to awkwardly sort-of hug her back, patting her back in a 'there, there' kind-of-way.

The crying took way too long in his opinion, but _finally_ , it subsided and the blonde retracted herself from him.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, her voice a bit rough around the edges after breaking down on his shoulder. "I needed that."

"You are welcome," he replied while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Look, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Honestly, I'd rather just curl up in bed right now," she said after taking a shuddering breath and wrapping her arms around herself once more.

"I know, but this is important. It won't take that long, I promise. We can walk up to the tower together."

"Fine then."

They began their walk in silence before Harry finally spoke up after their first flight of stairs. "Your name wasn't supposed to come out of the goblet."

Lavender gave him a deadpan look. "You think?"

"No, I mean...look." He sighed, stopping in the middle of the second flight of stairs. "Remember everything that happened in the past three years? I don't want to sound self-centred, but everything revolved around me in some way. Serial killers, Chamber of Secrets…"

"And?"

"Now _your_ name comes out of the goblet and it just doesn't make sense to me. You are never involved in any of those things, but suddenly, without a reason…"

"Wait...you think...you think it was _you_ who was supposed to be the fourth champion and I'm just – it was a mistake?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"You do realize how that sounds, right?" Lavender asked with a hand on her hip.

"I know," Harry said with a serious expression. "I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I'm almost never wrong when it comes to these kinds of things. Anyways." Harry continued to walk up, prompting Lavender to follow him. "Did they say if you have to compete?"

The blonde's face fell at that question and she looked on the verge of tears again. "I have to or I'll lose my magic! I don't want to be a squib!"

"That's kind of bollocks…" Harry said with a sigh, running a hand through his messy black hair. "I'll help you any way I can," he then stated firmly.

"Really?" Lavender looked at him with a raised, delicate brow. "No offence, but what could you do? You are in the same year I am, in case you forgot."

"I know a couple of charms which could help you. I'd like to think I'm also fairly decent at DADA and Transfigurations. I'm sure Hermione would help to research anything you might need to know." He stopped again before giving her another serious look. "I honestly believe that your name came up by mistake. I'm certain that it should have been me. So, I'll help in any way I can to get you through this alive. I promise."

She hugged him again, more fiercely this me. "Thank you _so_ , _so_ much! It _really_ means a lot to me!"

"Don't worry about it," Harry croaked out uncomfortably, again stiff as a board at this unfamiliar physical affection. Lavender really seemed to be that touchy-feely type, and he wasn't sure if he could handle that.

"Would you come up to the owlery with me? I don't want to be alone right now and I need to write to my parents."

"Sure," Harry said with a shrug, realizing that this was by far the most he had ever spent time with Lavender, let alone talk.

"I'm really terrified," Lavender admitted after they were climbing even more stairs.

"I would be too," Harry said.

"But you are the Boy-Who-Lived. I'd think this would be kind of your thing, you know?"

He snorted at that. "I wish it weren't. I could very well do without nearly dying every year."

"You should be happy then." Lavender's lower lip started to tremble. "I'll probably die without ever having a boyfriend…"

Harry gave her a disbelieving look before shaking his head. "I'm sure you'll make it." Better to just ignore her... _priorities_. "And I definitely am not happy. I'd rather they not mess up when targeting me instead of dragging someone innocent into danger."

"You really believe you were the actual target, huh?"

Harry scoffed. "Comes with _always being_ a target."

She gave him a sideways glance. "I should be angry at you, you know, but I actually feel bad for you. All that stress will give you bad skin and premature wrinkles."

"You have _no_ idea," Harry said dryly.

They finally reached the owlery and Lavender made a beeline for the offered parchments, ink, and quills for students. "Cast a lumos for me, Harry, will you?"

He did as asked, leaning silently against the wall while listening to the scratching of the quill on parchment. He wondered what Lavender would be saying to her parents. Would she tell them about her fears? Would she tell them about his suspicions? If so, how would they react? He hoped he wouldn't get a howler the following day.

Once Lavender was finished with her letter, she made sure to dry the ink with a quick spell before rolling and tying it up. They then walked to the owls and Lavender looked for one to use – something that made Harry curious.

"Don't you have your own owl?"

"No, we have a family owl we usually use for letters. If I need something short term I just use a school owl to send my parents a letter."

"I could lend you Hedwig if you want. She's strong and fast and I doubt you want your parents to find out through the Prophet tomorrow," Harry offered with a shrug.

"Could I? Thank you!" She gave him her letter, and he walked up to his beloved owl.

"Can you make it to Lavender's parents before the newspaper owls arrive?" he asked his snowy owl, only to receive an indignant look from her in return. "Yeah, I should know better than asking you such silly questions, right?" He chuckled as he held his arm out for her to climb on before releasing her for her journey.

"I _so_ love your owl! She's so pretty!" Lavender gushed.

"Thanks," Harry muttered in return, not sure what else to say.

They left the owlery and walked to the Gryffindor tower, mostly in silence now.

He never realized how he kind of missed out on his other Gryffindor year mates. Just talking like this with Lavender was like getting to know a stranger, and they were supposed to be learning magic together for three years now, starting their fourth. Maybe it came with the isolation of being Harry Potter and suffering near-death-experiences every year.

"What are you thinking?" Lavender asked, giving him a curious look.

"Nothing."

"Can I ask you something?"

He glanced at her sideways before shrugging. "Sure."

"What happened in second year?" she asked eagerly.

Harry sighed, half in annoyance and half in resignation. "I don't want to really tell because Ginny's involved too."

"Okay. Is the Chamber of Secrets real then?"

"Yes," Harry answered.

"There was supposed to be a monster or something, right?" Lavender pressed on.

"A basilisk. It was pretty big too."

"I don't think I could do any of those things."

Harry chuckled at that. "I'm pretty sure you could. I was lucky most of the time anyway."

"Ah, so you are the modest hero type," Lavender said while giving him a curious look. "Do you think it's weird that we've talked more now than in the past years since we started at Hogwarts?"

Harry smiled. "I've actually been thinking the same thing."

They'd almost reached the Fat Lady's portrait, so Harry stopped and turned to look at the blonde. "So, how do you want to do this? Do you even know what your first task is going to be?"

"No, they didn't say anything." Lavender bit her lower lip nervously. "I'm absolutely terrified and I really, _really_ don't want to do this whole tournament thing. I don't know what to do _at all_."

"I'll talk with Hermione. She'd be more than willing to help. I'll also send a letter to a...friend and ask them for advice. They're bound to know things that could help."

"Oooh, secrets!" Lavender grinned. "Who's that friend?"

"No one important," Harry said with a dismissive wave of his hand, ignoring Lavender's unimpressed look. "Ready to go in?"

"Not really, no." Lavender looked resigned at the prospect of entering the common room as the fourth Triwizard champion.

He couldn't blame her, not in the slightest. If he was in her position – and he couldn't believe he was saying that, but he wished he was – he wouldn't want to go in there either.

There was little they could do, though.

"Come on," he said and took the lead, climbing through the hole into their common room after giving the Fat Lady the password.

There was still a party going on, and Lavender was immediately pulled away by her friends, but she still managed to give him a wave goodbye. Harry searched for Ron and Hermione and, once he found them, made his way there, accepting the butterbeer Seamus pressed into his hands.

"Where were you mate?" Ron asked immediately, making room for Harry to sit on.

"Talked with Lavender and then she asked me to go up to the owlery with her. She wanted to tell her parents what was going on before they'd find out through the Prophet," Harry answered before taking a sip from his butterbeer.

Hermione winced a bit. "I don't think they'll take it well. From what I could gather, her parents are _really_ protective of her."

"Yeah, well, I also promised her we'd help," he said with a shrug.

Ron gave Harry a look as if he had grown a second head. "Why'd you do that for?"

"Because...I don't know, she's not even supposed to be in that tournament," Harry insisted. "She's supposed to be _Lavender_. She's supposed to believe in Trelawny's rubbish and gossip with Parvati, not _this_. It was supposed to be _me_ in her place."

"You really believe that, mate?" Ron asked. "You really believe someone had it out for you and Lavender's just an accident?"

"Yeah. Nothing else makes sense. I'm _always_ in the centre of things like this. You two know that better than anybody else. Lavender's just...it's ridiculous."

Ron shrugged before he let out a laugh. "Can't believe someone was dumb enough to confuse Potter with Brown. Or Harry with Lavender." He then looked at his empty bottle and got up. "Going go grab me another one of those. You want another too, Hermione?"

"No, thanks." She smiled at him. "So...anything else?"

Harry looked at her in confusion for a moment. He then shrugged. "Dunno, I just told her we'd help and that you'd help with researching with things. I also told her I'd send a letter to Snuffles soon, to ask for advice. He's bound to know things."

"Anything else?" She gave him an expectant look.

"No…?" Harry was really confused now. "I mean, she cried a bit – which I think is normal since she's bloody scared – and we chatted a bit. Nothing else."

"Sure. Anyway, I'll go chat with Lavender in the dorm-room now and I'll see what I can find out in the library tomorrow. Good night, Harry."

"Night." Still confused, he watched Hermione's retreating form, shaking his head. "I don't get girls."

"You and me both, mate," Ron said after plopping down on the sofa next to him. "You and me both."


	2. The Day After

When she woke up the day after the champion selection, it still felt like she was asleep. This whole situation she found herself in was so utterly surreal, it felt impossible to come to terms with it. In her head, it made more sense to think that she was still dreaming. _She? Lavender Brown? The mysterious fourth champion?_

An almost hysterical laugh was threatening to claw its way out of her. She didn't know what crimes she must have committed in her previous lives, but the recent punishments went a little bit far. First, her beloved Binky passed away last year and now this. Lavender Brown, fourth champion, and no one knew how.

Though Harry, apparently, had suspicions about the _why_.

Maybe next year she'd start getting grey hair. That'd complete the chaos her life was descending into.

The most important thing through all of this chaos was, however, that Parvati had immediately believed her when she had said that she didn't know how her name ended up in the goblet. The ﬁrst question asked was, of course, a _'how did you do that?!'_ – she would have asked the same if their roles were reversed – but once Lavender insisted that it was not her who put her name there, Parvati believed her, as did the rest of the girls. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to handle anything else.

A pleasant surprise was that _Harry Potter_ was the ﬁrst to come to her and tell her that he didn't believe that she cheated her way into this tournament – she had deﬁnitely caught a few of _those_ whispers yesterday evening.

She didn't know all that much about him, which wasn't really surprising. His social circle consisted of almost nobody but Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley after all. Still, there were almost always rumours surrounding him, and, admittedly, sometimes it was hard to discern what was true and what wasn't. A thirteen-year-old capable of the _Patronus_? Unlikely. A one-year-old surviving the _killing curse_? Also unlikely and yet he was living proof that it was true.

Over the past three years since they had started Hogwarts, they had barely talked at all and he rarely, if ever, strayed from his two sidekicks. He always seemed a bit awkward and shy, and, for the life of her, she didn't know where the idea of his supposed arrogance and thirst for attention came from. She was thirsty for attention – she didn't even bother hiding it – but Harry was barely able to look her in the eyes when they got paired for the odd group projects. He was just a cute little oddball.

So, she had been genuinely and honestly surprised when he had decided to wait for her and talk to her about that whole goblet debacle. Maybe he felt guilty, maybe he was concerned, she couldn't tell.

She had to admit, it came oﬀ as _really_ self-centred that he thought he was the initial target. _Please_. Could this even be some evil plot? Maybe it was just a prank? But the Weasley twins didn't make it past the age-line, and she had _literally_ nothing to do with them _at all_. But then again, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, and weird stuﬀ seemed to be happening around him all the time. She had no clue what to make of this whole thing.

He actually seemed nice enough though. He had lent her a shoulder to cry on after all when she had needed it, as uncomfortable as he seemingly was around her.

She forced herself to sit up in her bed. Facing anybody right now was really low on her agenda for the day, but there was little she could do about it – they still had classes, after all.

Her morning routine was meticulous and she followed it religiously. From the moment she showered to the moment she completed it with the ﬁnishing touch: her hairband for the day, which today was coloured lavender, true to her name. The results always proved her right in the end, if her beautiful looks were anything to go by.

"How are you feeling, Lavender?"

She looked away from her hand-mirror to see Hermione hovering in front of her bed. "Honestly? When I woke up I was _this close_ to breaking out in hysterics, but now I feel a bit better."

"Oh? How come?" Hermione asked, looking genuinely curious.

"By following my perfect morning routine of course!" she replied with a giggle. "It's like...meditation. Following every detail, step by step is _really_ relaxing." She then returned her attention back to her mirror. Safisﬁed with her charms-work, she put it away before getting up from her bed and putting her bag over her shoulder.

She was still waiting for Parvati to ﬁnish brushing her hair, which apparently prompted Hermione to keep talking with her.

It wasn't like she had a problem with that. Hermione talking with her, or any of the other girls in their dorm, really, was simply surprising. She had tried including her in their activities – be it _'slumber parties'_ , simple chats, or trying out new makeup brands. Whatever she tried, Hermione kept declining, which was okay.

But – and that annoyed her to no end – going and badmouthing her dorm- mates to _'her boys'_ , just because she didn't approve of what they did for fun was a big no-no. So, she had stopped trying and simply didn't bother with anything more than being civil with the bushy-haired witch.

And then, she had ended up as the second pleasant surprise after Harry Potter. That Hermione had willingly come up and joined their whole dorm- room to be there for her had been really sweet. Apparently, Harry had talked to her. Hermione had really promised to read up all she could about the tournament. Lavender had no idea what they got out of it or why they bothered, but she wasn't stupid enough to decline oﬀered help.

"I've been thinking," Hermione began, chewing lightly on her bottom lip, "we could try starting with teaching you basic defensive spells ﬁrst. Harry's really good with the disarming charm, for example."

 _What a drag_. "You are wasting no time, are you?" She cocked her head to the side a bit in thought. "I've heard Harry can cast a corporeal Patronus. Not sure from whom, though. If I remember correctly," she muttered and squinted her eyes in concentration, "Malfoy heard it from _somewhere_ and _he_ told Parkinson, who told Greengrass – you really can't tell _that_ girl anything – who _then_ told Lisa Turpin and from there it just kind of blew up and I ended up hearing it from Megan Jones. So, is it true?"

"I-what? I mean yes, he can, but that's not important right now. Probably later." Hermione dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

"How isn't it important right now, though?" Her best friend Parvati joined their conversation. "What if Lav has to ﬁght dementors in the ﬁrst task?"

Her eyes bulged at that thought and she panicked a bit. "Yeah, what if I have to ﬁght dementors?"

Hermione's brows furrowed in thought. "Would that even be allowed? I mean, they are guarding Azkaban."

"Do you want my soul to be eaten? Do you want my soul on your conscience?" Why was she even discussing this right now?

"I'll talk to Harry," Hermione said with a sigh, ﬁnally having relented.

"You do that, Hermione," Lavender said with her arms crossed over her chest.

She really hoped she wouldn't have to ﬁght dementors. They were just _ew_.

* * *

She wasn't sure what she should have expected when entering the Great Hall, but it deﬁnitely wasn't the glares from quite a few Huﬄepuﬀs and Ravenclaws and most of Slytherin.

"They _do_ realize I didn't want that tournament thing, right?" she muttered to Parvati, who just gave her a comforting pat on her back.

It didn't really help.

She sat down on a chair with a huﬀ and a bit of a pout before loading her plate with breakfast and starting to eat half-heartedly. This whole tournament thing was such a downer and she really wanted to see her parents right now. There were apparently quite a few students who believed that she'd cheated herself into the tournament – not so many that it mattered a lot but still enough to be an annoyance.

Why would she? She didn't need that glory or whatever. She was not suicidal, she was popular, and, most importantly, she was beautiful. She needed lots of things, but extra attention? No, she deﬁnitely did not want for any more of that.

...at least not in _this_ kind of way. After all, she wouldn't say no to getting attention for rocking the latest witch's robes for this fall season.

"Ignore them."

She looked up from her food to see Harry and his entourage sitting across from her – Weasley with bright red ears. Odd place to blush.

"There's not much else I can do now, is there?" She huﬀed in annoyance.

"Look," he continued, "I get this kind of thing from people all the time. Remember second year? When suddenly everybody thought I was the Heir of Slytherin and out to kill every muggle-born and half-blood? Just ignore it. People are ﬁckle like that, and honestly, you'll just learn who's worth keeping around and who isn't."

"Ugh, this is a nightmare!" She couldn't help but complain. "People used to love me!"

"It's alright, Lav, you'll just show them in the tournament. They're probably all underestimating you right now."

Lavender looked at her best friend and opened her arms for a hug, which was reciprocated by Parvati. "You are the _best friend ever_!"

A cough brought her attention back to their guests.

"Hermione said you want to learn the _Patronus_ charm," Harry said.

"I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? If they make us ﬁght dementors." She shuddered at that thought.

"The principle is easy," Harry explained. "I can show it to you, but actually pulling it oﬀ is really hard and what most adult witches and wizards struggle with."

"Okay," she said with a smile.

"Where do you want to do all that training stuﬀ, though?" Ron wondered. "You think McGonagall's going to let you use an empty classroom or something?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I'll talk to her...oh look, Hedwig's back."

She followed Harry's eyes and saw the gorgeous snowy owl look for her before landing on the table between them, holding out a foot with a letter from her parents. She quickly untied it and scratched the owls head in thanks before unrolling the parchment.

Her chin trembled when reading her parents' reply, and she leaned into Parv after ﬁnishing it.

"What did your parents say?" her best friend asked.

"They are just really worried about me and they said they'll try to ﬁnd out just how legally binding this whole thing really is." She sighed before continuing. "They obviously don't want me to be a squib either. They are thinking about suing the tournament committee for this and other than that they told me to hold on and keep going. Ugh, my life is over." She then looked at Harry from Parvati's shoulder. "My parents also told me to tell you that you shouldn't feel guilty or something, in case you are right about me being accidentally in this tournament instead of you. My dad also…" She sat up straight again to read the letter once more, looking for the passage about Harry. "...he said…'He sounds like a ﬁne, young man and we are grateful that he is so willing to help you and stand by you'. Yeah, that."

"Thanks, I guess...anyway, I've got to write my own letter now," Harry said uncomfortably after clearing his throat.

"Snuﬄes?" Hermione asked, which Harry conﬁrmed with a nod.

"Who's that?" Parvati asked with a raised brow. "Sounds kind of like a dog or something."

"You aren' _'at_ 'ar o'," Ron said with his mouth still full. _Ew_.

"Right," she said with a wrinkle of her nose. "Well, time for class."

* * *

Her ﬁrst day of classes after her name came out of the goblet was horrible. In every class, there would be this small group of students whispering and talking about her, and it was annoying her to no end. There weren't a lot of students doing that, but that small group of maybe four or ﬁve in every other class were obnoxiously obvious. They had no clue about how to gossip eﬃciently. _That_ almost annoyed her more than the fact that she was the topic of their gossip.

For the ﬁrst time since Binky's passing, she wanted to go home. She felt terrible.

At least the Gryﬃndor tower brought her _some_ reprieve.

But the attention here, while opposite to what she experienced from the other houses, was still not what she wanted. She wanted them to fawn over her looks and her perfect skin and her talent with cosmetics. She didn't want attention because she was an unwilling fourth participant in some barbaric blood-sport! That was _so_ not her thing. _At all_.

Not even twenty-four hours had passed and her life was ﬂipped completely upside down. Before the goblet made her a champion, her biggest worry had been who'd end up asking her to the _Yule Ball_.

Now, her biggest worry was what was going to kill her during the ﬁrst task.

If it was a creature, she hoped it wasn't anything big enough to eat her. _That'd_ be no way for her to go.

With a sigh, she put away her _Transﬁgurafion_ homework and leaned back against her chair.

She had no clue what to do and could just hope that her dad would somehow get her out of this mess.

Letting her eyes roam around the common room a bit, she saw Seamus winking at her. After that disastrous Hogsmeade 'date' last year, he still didn't get the message. She scoﬀed at him and rolled her eyes, then went on to grab her bag and head upstairs to her dorm-room. She just wanted this nightmare to be over.

And she wanted Binky back and she wanted to go home. She wanted to pretend none of this ever happened. _That'd_ be neat.

But she couldn't.

She was about to reach the stairs when Harry appeared next to her again.

"Are you stalking me or something?" she teased him with a quirked eyebrow, a grin threatening to break out at his wide eyes and nervous stuttering. She knew he meant well and appreciated it, but he was kind of very...single-minded about it.

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean...oh, bollocks…"

She now openly laughed and pulled him towards a corner where they wouldn't be standing in everybody's way. "I was just joking. Now, what is it this time?"

He was thinking for a moment, apparently trying to get his furiously ﬂushed head back to functioning order. "Oh, right! I wanted to tell you that I've written that person and asked for spells that could be useful and what else could help you."

She nodded. "Okay. You do realize you told me yesterday and today during breakfast you'd write this... _Snuﬄes_?"

He squirmed a bit while trying to come up with a response, and all the while she kept on smiling at him with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"I…yeah, you are right, kind of…"

"You know, I think you just like talking to me a lot." She now gave him a full grin. "Can't blame you there. I know I'd enjoy talking to me if I were in your place."

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unsuccessfully trying to say something. Finally, he gave up and just left to go back to his friends.

Parvati, who had seen the whole thing from the bottom of the stairs to their dorm-room, just giggled. "I think you broke that poor boy."

"He'll recover." With a giggle of herself, she followed her best friend up the stairs.

Teasing the Boy-Who-Lived made the end of her day a lot more pleasant.


	3. Starting Training

"Okay, but look at this one," Lavender said, pointing at the witches modelling the latest robes and cosmetics in this week's _Teen-Witch-Weekly_. She and Parvati were currently both lying on their stomachs on her bed, leaﬁng through the magazine. She was toying with a stray lock of her wavy, blonde hair while critically eyeing what the wizarding fashion world had to oﬀer for the current autumn season.

"It doesn't change much from what's in-style right now though," Parvati mused. "They are running out of ideas I think. It's always the same. This one's almost identical to last autumn's."

"Ugh." Lavender rolled onto her back in disappointment. She was looking forward to something new and exciting to wear, but alas, it looked like she'd have to make do with what she had from last year.

But clothes made people, and wearing things that ran out of style was not something she enjoyed doing in particular.

Apparently, even her weekends were aﬀected by her predicament. Just one disappointment after another. Once upon a time – like not even a week ago – she'd be out in the common room with her friends, or she'd be out strolling Hogwarts' grounds or sit by the lake. Instead, she was holed up in her dorm-room and disappointed by the poor fashion season.

Not that that was a bad thing per se. It simply was more of a Sunday evening activity rather than Saturday noon. All the stares and whispers started to grate on her nerves and were getting bothersome to the point that hiding away from them was better than being exposed to them. Her own house didn't make it better by acting as if it was one of the greatest happenings in recent history.

Hermione then entered their dorm-room, and Lavender knew the bushy-haired witch was looking for her. Since her name came out of the goblet, Hermione had developed an odd kind of interest in her. She appreciated the sentiment, but like Harry, she was very single-minded about it. Was all their focus always on some silly adventures instead of the important aspects of life?

"Hey," Hermione greeted them. "Since we all have some time, Harry ﬁgured he might as well teach you the disarming charm today. If you are up for it, that is."

Lavender looked at Parvati, who just shrugged in return. "Might as well, then." She got up from her bed. After ﬂipping her hair over her shoulders and adjusting her hairband, she walked up to Hermione. "Lead the way, Hermione. You coming, Parv?"

Her friend nodded in return before she too got up from the bed and joined them.

Hermione led them down the stairs and into the common room. Lavender would be lying if she said that she wasn't curious to see what The-Boy- Who-Lived and his sidekicks actually were capable of. Rumours were all well and good, but to see the actual thing outside of a controlled environment, like a classroom, would be fun.

Since Hermione went on to leave the common room, she assumed that Harry had already found a place to practice and was waiting there for them.

"Oh, I completely forgot!" Parvati suddenly exclaimed, making Lavender look at her best friend curiously.

"Forgot what?" Hermione asked.

"Earlier today, when I went to the bathroom, I overheard a couple of Ravenclaws – ﬁfth- or sixth-years, I think," Parvati began excitedly, and Lavender knew this was going to be juicy gossip. "Apparently, Cedric Diggory has his eyes set on Cho Chang for the _Yule Ball_."

Lavender reared her head back in surprise. "Wait – _the_ Cho Chang? The super jealous Cho Chang who completely ﬂipped out on her Hogsmeade date last year because she thought he had his eyes on another girl from his year who waved at him?"

"That's the one!" Parvati giggled, then lowered her voice. "But I've heard there's more to it."

"Like what?" She asked eagerly, but before Parvati could answer, Hermione entered a classroom, eﬀecfively halting their conversation.

"I'll tell you later," her best friend promised. Not that Parvati needed to – she'd have asked about it later anyway.

They followed Hermione inside, and the ﬁrst thing they noticed were the tables and chairs all pushed into one end of the classroom, leaving about half of it empty and with lots of space for them to make use of.

The second thing they noticed were Harry and Ron who seemed to have been waiting for them inside, the latter sitting on one of the tables and chatting with the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione said, gaining the attention of the two boys.

Harry turned around with a smile and a shy wave for Lavender and Parvati. She winked at him in return and had to stiﬂe her giggle at his blush. He was too easy to tease.

"Okay," Harry said after clearing his throat, "so, uh, I ﬁgured we could start with basic things ﬁrst. Like, the disarming charm. I've got a list from –" He cleared his throat again, then went on with his little speech. "–from Snuﬄes. But before we move on to that, I think it's important that you know the disarming charm. It's very useful in my opinion."

"Whatever you say, Harry." Lavender shrugged. "No one else has oﬀered me any help so far, so, I might as well trust _you_ , considering how out of your way you go to help me."

It really wasn't like she had a ton of selections here. She even asked a couple of upper years if they had anything they could help her with in terms of spells or tips, and both times the answers were an apologetic look and a _'no, sorry, wouldn't know where to begin'_. So, all she really had was her year-mate, who admittedly put more eﬀort into this than she did. She'd have to show her appreciation somehow because she _did_ appreciate it.

"Okay, then." He looked at the other three. "If you guys want to, you know, practice too, then go ahead." Returning his attention to her, he continued. "You remember the incantation and wand movement? We learned it in the duelling club in second year."

"Expelliarmus," she said, showing oﬀ the wand movements.

"Very good!" Harry praised, and she couldn't help the big grin on her face. "Just try to put a bit more force into the upwards-motion."

"Okay." She did as told – a clockwise spiral move and more force into the upwards motion.

"Looking good." Harry nodded in approval. "Try it out on me."

" _Expelliarmus_!" Her voice was clear and her motions crisp. The wand in Harry's hand clattered on the ﬂoor a couple of feet in front of him. She squealed at her success, jumping up and down and clapping her hands excitedly. "Did you see that?!"

"Now you just need to practice it a bit more, so the object any opponent might hold will ﬂy farther away from them," Harry said with a smile of his own. "Try it again."

And so their ﬁrst session of whatever this was supposed to be commenced.

Parvati didn't participate at ﬁrst – even though she seemed bored – but after a while, Lavender saw her join in and rotate with Ron and Hermione so all of them did spend some time practising the disarming charm.

Meanwhile, Harry and she kept on practising together, which consisted more of her continuously disarming him. She could see a bit of improvement in how far the wand ﬂew from his hand, which was very encouraging to her. Seeing progress, bit by bit, was a big motivator.

"I think you've got that one down," Harry commented after a while.

"Thank Merlin," she groaned, "it was fun at ﬁrst, but started to get boring real quick."

"I understand," Harry said with a light chuckle and she wondered brieﬂy if she had ever heard him give a full and honest laugh. "That's why I ﬁgured we could move on to _Protego_."

"Why second-year spells, though?" Lavender asked.

"Just to make sure you've got them down properly," Harry explained.

"Fine then." She sighed before showing oﬀ her shield charm. She followed the sharp slash of her wand with a clear " _Protego_!" and a strong looking shield appeared in front of her. She kept it up with her outstretched wand.

Harry looked impressed before suddenly shooting a quick _Expelliarmus_ against her shield. It ﬂared visibly, and she felt the strain in her wand-arm and had to dispell the shield with a gasp.

" _That_ was just a disarming charm?" she asked with a disbelieving look.

Her 'tutor' just shrugged but didn't comment further on it. "I'm no expert, but I think your shield is pretty strong. You would want to keep it up for longer, though."

"So…practice?"

Harry smiled at her. "Exactly. So, I think we should focus on those two spells for now."

She put a hand on her hip and squinted her eyes at him. "What about the _P_ _atronus_ , though? You said you'd show me, Mister."

"I didn't forget, don't worry," Harry promised, then stepped up to her, his face more serious than before. "Understand that this is a very hard spell to cast and if you can't make it corporeal it's not because you are bad at it but because it _is_ a very diﬃcult spell. That counts for _all_ of you guys, by the way."

"But didn't you say that it's actually easy?" Lavender wondered, her head cocked to the side in confusion.

"No," Harry answered immediately. "I said the principle of the spell is easy." He moved his wand in a couple of wide-arching circles, saying a part of its incantation with each circle. " _Expecto Patronum_."

" _Whoa_. So pretty." She couldn't help it. The spell _was_ beautiful. Even the way it was cast. The ﬁrst circle-movement with the _'Expecto'_ collected silvery vapour at the tip of Harry's wand, and the second circle-movement with the _'Patronum'_ gave it its shape. And now, before her, stood a silvery and fully corporeal stag.

"It never ceases to be impressive." Hermione nodded with a smile.

Harry, though, seemed to be very uncomfortable and quickly dispelled the stag. "So, the secret to the _Patronus_ is in your head. You need a powerful and impactful happy memory."

"Wait, that's it?" Parvati asked, sounding as disbelieving as Lavender felt.

Harry, however, gave them a humourless grin. "Told you it sounds easy, but believe me: it's not. Give it a try."

She thought for a moment, trying to come with a good memory. It shouldn't be too hard. She was a happy person who grew up as a happy child in a happy home. Her parents were happily married.

Honestly, she loved her life.

Maybe the day when she got Binky from her parents just before she started at Hogwarts? It certainly was an immensely happy moment when she held the white, ﬂuﬀy little baby rabbit in her arms. She certainly got teary-eyed when she saw him for the ﬁrst time.

Oh, how she missed Binky.

She moved her arms the way Harry did, in those wide-arching circles, saying the incantation with the motions. " _Expecto Patronum_!"

She only managed to produce a thin, silver vapour.

"But-?" How could that day not be happy enough? She looked at the others. Ron's _Patronus_ was about as weak as hers. Hermione's vapour looked more solid than hers and the same went for Parvati's.

This was frustrating.

"It was a good ﬁrst attempt," Harry said, trying to be encouraging. It didn't really work. "Can I ask what your memory was? As long as it isn't something too private."

"It was the day my parents bought me Binky as a gift," Lavender explained, rather frustrated right now. "I don't get it. I was really happy that day."

Harry shook his head. "Not good enough. You just feeling happy in the memory you think about isn't enough. It has to be more. Something really special, maybe even life-changing."

"What's it for you then?" She asked him. She was genuinely curious. What could be a life-changing, happy memory for the Boy-Who-Lived?

"The day I learned that I was a wizard and would go to Hogwarts," Harry said while looking her in the eyes.

She'd never realized they were green like that.

Lavender then blinked at his words, the implications only registering now. "Wait, what do you mean _'when you learned'_? When _did_ you learn and how is that so impactful for you?"

He waved her questions oﬀ, his face rather expressionless. "It's not important. Let's continue practising."

And so they did. She thought of memory after memory – there were so many to choose from – but none were really good enough. Her vapour was at least more solid than when she started practising this charm, but she wanted a corporeal one. She thought of the day she got her wand. She then thought of her seventh birthday, when she got to have friends stay overnight for the ﬁrst time. She thought of her ﬁrst vacation with her parents to Cádiz in Southern Spain. She thought of seeing Hogwarts for the ﬁrst time when she was on that boat.

None of it was enough to create a corporeal _Patronus_. It was unbelievably discouraging and frustrating. Lavender _was_ a happy child, and she did collect so many happy memories, she'd think that at least some of them would be special enough to create a _Patronus_ as eﬀortlessly as Harry.

"Come on," Harry spoke up after her latest try of managing nothing but a vapour. At least it was really solid now, almost like a kind of wall. "Enough for today."

"At least I wasn't bored to death as I feared I'd be." She wasn't sure how many hours they ended up spending here, but it deﬁnitely was better than being holed up in their dorm room, just because she felt the need to avoid a good chunk of Hogwarts's student body.

"I'm glad I could help," Harry said. "I actually think you could do pretty well in the tournament, Lavender." He gave her that weird look – almost as if he was trying to gauge her. Maybe he was just another of those who saw nothing but a blonde airhead in her. She wasn't sure. But _that_ look – the one he was giving her now – she'd seen that one a million times, and she was sure she'd see it just as many times in the future. It was the look of people who'd judged her before in one way or another, only to realize that there was more to her. It didn't bother her all that much, but sometimes she'd wish that people would just skip the former so they'd see the latter faster.

"Thanks," she replied with a smile. She meant it too.

* * *

"No way! So Cho actually _had_ a reason to be jealous!" Lavender gasped wide-eyed while sitting on her bed with Parvati.

They had returned to their dorm room after dinner, which they'd eaten once they were done practising with the Boy-Who-Lived and his friends. It certainly had been a more interesting day than it started out as, and she was grateful for that. There also seemed to be more to Harry Potter than she initially thought, if his odd reaction to her questions about his happy memory were anything to go by. She'd always heard that he was spoiled by his guardians, even though he never acted like it. Draco Malfoy was spoiled rotten, and it showed every time he so much as _breathed_. Harry Potter though? No.

But he also never once countered any of _those_ accusations and rumours. It was curious.

"She certainly did." Parvati giggled. "Lisa Turpin told me she and that boy had a _huge_ ﬁght in Madam Puddifoot's. I wished I could've been there."

"Ugh, me too!" Missing out on things like that was _the worst_.

"So, how is Harry as a teacher?" Parvati suddenly asked. Way to change a topic.

"Pretty good actually. I mean, you were right there, you heard him teach." She quirked a delicate eyebrow at her best friend.

"Yeah, but he wasn't my personal teacher." Parvati giggled. "He's pretty cute in the school uniform. If he has nice dress robes, I wouldn't mind if he asked me to the ball."

"He can clean up nicely, can't he? I wonder why he keeps wearing those ugly, baggy muggle clothes though."

"Maybe it's a muggle thing?" Parvati oﬀered.

Lavender thought for a second. "Well, if that's it, then muggles have terrible taste in fashion."

"Oh well. Anyway, the other day I overheard Sally-Anne Perks – that Puﬀ from our year? – I overheard her talking with Susan Bones, and apparently, she caught Neville staring at Hannah Abbot during Herbology…"

They kept on chatting well into the evening, and, every once in a while, Lavender caught herself wondering how she had missed Harry's eye-colour for the past three years.

Maybe he should ditch those glasses.


	4. A Week In November

They were halfway through the first November week and progress was being made. She'd be lying if she said that being tutored by the Boy-Who-Lived wasn't fun. She still couldn't cast a corporeal _Patronus_ – which was a major annoyance – after two weeks, but she grew to be rather proficient with the disarming charm and the shield charm. Harry said that the next spell on their agenda would be the impediment hex, something they'd be learning together. She was actually looking forward to it. It was a bit surprising, but she had to admit that those past two weeks were quite enjoyable. Harry was rather adept at teaching and, in her opinion, could be absolutely successful at a teaching job. She also had grown to enjoy being around him. He always seemed to be a bit unassuming, quiet, shy and, admittedly, weird.

Now, though, she could see the glimpses of a very kind and very gentle person shine through.

She wanted to know more about him.

But currently, she was outside for Care class and _caring_ for Hagrid's abominations. The giant man seemed nice enough, _but_ he was not the greatest teacher for this course. His... _creatures_ were not what she was hoping for when taking this elective. She wanted to care for pretty and fluffy things and not for... _Blast-Ended Skrewts._

She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the shiny grey armour they had grown. One of them propelled itself towards her in the box, making her shriek and jump backwards in surprise. A low snicker to her left caught her attention. Turning towards the sound, she glared at Harry, who turned away from her, but the shaking of his shoulders gave him away.

"Hogwarts' fourth champion, ladies and gentlemen! Pathetic."

Lavender raised a brow at the obnoxious voice of Draco Malfoy. She looked a bit farther past Harry to see the blonde Slytherin with his entourage.

"Shut up, Malfoy."

Now both her brows were raised. Harry Potter was actually defending her.

"Of course the Gryffindor glory-hounds stick together," Malfoy drawled. "At least it's not _you_ embarrassing your house this time, am I right, Potter?"

She snorted in contempt at Malfoy's childish prodding and returned her attention to the task at hand.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do with these ugly monsters, but they were still more interesting than Draco Malfoy and his shiny, slimy hair.

"I'm sorry," she heard Harry say and she turned to give him an incredulous look.

"What are _you_ even sorry about?"

"I-about the things Malfoy said and–"

Lavender giggled. That was just too precious! "Don't be silly, Harry. As if I'd listen to someone like that."

Harry chuckled ruefully. "I guess. I wish I could be more like you there. He always gets to me."

"Well, you _do_ have a temper. I might have only gotten to see glimpses of the actual Harry Potter over the past couple weeks, but I've still heard about how quick you are to lose your cool," she said while wagging a finger at him. She then inspected the nail of said finger and was quick to do the same with the rest. "Chipped polish. Great."

"I can't help it," Harry explained, completely ignoring the significance of chipped nail polish. "He just...I don't know. He says things...about the Weasleys for example, and it makes me angry because the Weasleys are good people."

"Bloody right we are," Ron commented from next to Harry and gave her a big grin.

She ignored it and focused on the Boy-Who-Lived instead. "You do realize _that'_ s the point, right? He most likely says these things with only one goal in mind: to make you angry. You keep playing right into it."

Lavender felt a little bad for him when he frowned a bit. Was he mad at himself or at her, she had to wonder? It would be unfair if he was mad at her – all she did was just point out how Malfoy ticked. It wasn't like she had some special ability or natural skill that made it easy for her to read people. He simply was _that_ obvious.

But then again, the Boy-Who-Lived was probably _so_ oblivious, he was liable to miss the most obvious things.

"I guess," he finally said with a shrug.

"Thank you anyways for standing up for me, Harry."

He acknowledged her appreciation with a single nod, but it was enough.

During the rest of the class, she spent most of her time chatting with Parvati.

Turns out, Malfoy got caught by Snape when he and Pansy Parkinson were snogging.

_Ew._

* * *

The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang guests were an interesting bunch. Most of the time they stuck with their own, but here and there she caught the odd ones conversing animatedly with Hogwarts students. However, it was clear very quickly which of the students were the VIPs.

For Durmstrang, there was absolutely no contest. Viktor Krum was – hands down – _the_ standout student of his school. Whether it was his Quidditch fame or more, she could not tell.

If she was honest, she had no interest in Quidditch whatsoever. At least not beyond the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, but _that_ was all about house pride, nothing more.

Now, the Beauxbatons standout students were a bit harder to discern.

No, that was a blatant lie. It was just as easy as it was with Durmstrang.

"What a pathetic display," Lavender scoffed when she watched Seamus, Dean, and Ron dreamily follow the French champion's every step with their eyes and Neville literally fall from his chair during dinner in the Great Hall.

"I don't get what's up with them," Harry said from a few chairs farther down the table while glancing at her.

"She's a Veela, Harry," Parvati explained, but Harry waved it off.

"I know that – Hermione told me already – but I mean, I don't get why it's affecting them like that. I barely feel anything from her."

Both her brows shot up and disappeared under her fringe when she heard that tidbit from Harry. "You are saying that you barely even feel a Veela's allure?"

"Yeah." Harry shrugged. "I mean, during the World Cup, the Veela cheerleaders, I felt _them_ , but the Beauxbatons champion – what's her name? Fleur? – there's almost nothing."

"Harry," Lavender began, leaning a bit forward on the table so she could see him better, "you do realize you've just made yourself every Hogwarts girl's dream date for the Yule Ball, right?"

The look of perfect confusion on Harry's face would be comical if it wasn't so unbelievable. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he was looking at nothing in particular. It was clear how deeply in thought he was. After a few moments, he shook his head, even more confused than before. "What do you mean? Why am I...you know?"

Lavender bit her lower lip to stop herself from outright laughing. "Just keep thinking about it."

She honestly, genuinely would have felt bad about making the poor boy forget his food, but it simply looked too funny how confused he appeared to be, sitting there with his full plate untouched, staring ahead at nothing while racking his brain.

Parvati giggled next to her, looking at Harry with something akin to pity in her eyes. "Why do you keep doing this to him?"

Lavender, now giggling herself, merely shrugged. "It's cute how easy it is to tease him, so I keep doing it."

"Yeah, I can see the appeal," her best friend conceded. "Still, it's kind of mean."

"A little bit, maybe," Lavender agreed. "Do you think I sh-"

"Lav."

She gritted her teeth almost instinctively before turning to Seamus, who was seated across from her. Unfortunately. "What is it, Seamus?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the ball with me?" he asked, and she was _this_ close to smacking that confident smirk off his face. A year ago it made him irresistible. Now, it made him irritating.

"Not in a million years." She didn't waste a second on her answer.

"Ouch," she heard Ron mutter from next to Harry.

"What?" The Irish looked and sounded genuinely surprised. "Why?"

"I don't want my date spending half his time ogling other girls and I _certainly_ don't want my date _kissing_ a different girl when he leaves for the bathroom." She'd never in her life felt _that_ humiliated. It wasn't that she had been crushing on him or something, _but_ he was cute – _still_ was, no doubt – and it was the first time she had been asked on a date. She had really looked forward to it _._ To have it go like that was...well it hurt. A lot.

And it had been humiliating.

" _It was a peck_ ," Seamus said in a tone as if he was explaining something to a child for the hundredths time.

"A peck on the lips that lasted long enough to count for a kiss," she replied airily with a wave of her hand. "Now go pester that French Veela, if you must. You won't get another date with me – even if it would save a life."

He left the table while still muttering angrily under his breath. She hoped it would finally stop him from trying to ask her out.

"Seamus really did that to you?"

Lavender leaned forward on the table again to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione looking at her curiously. "Is the Boy-Who-Lived really asking me for gossip?" she asked him teasingly.

"No! Just...I mean...you didn't deserve that," he answered, his voice lowering with every word.

"No, I didn't. But neither did Morag Macdougal." She sighed at the boys' confused looks. "Ravenclaw? Our year? You _seriously_ need to meet people beyond your Gryffindor bubble. _Anyways_ , she was the girl Seamus kissed. She apologized the next day and _really_ felt terrible. Apparently, she didn't even know he was there with me."

"I don't get girls, but even I know that's not how you treat them," Ron said while shaking his head in disapproval.

Lavender looked at her best friend, who snorted at Ron's words.

"I should hope so," Parvati said, "considering you have a little sister."

Right, there was _that_. She'd seen the youngest Weasley a few times in the common room and every time she did, she'd caught her look at Harry when _he_ wasn't aware. It was an open secret that the third-year had a _major_ crush on the Boy-Who-Lived. She was probably hoping to be asked to the ball by Harry. It would make sense, in Lavender's eyes, but _she_ kind of hoped that Harry would ask _her_ instead.

Lavender was sure he'd make a splendid date and be the perfect gentleman throughout. She couldn't imagine him treating any girl he'd ask on a date badly and give her anything less than his full attention.

And she could ask him all sorts of questions.

She'd give him until two weeks before the Yule Ball to ask her.

* * *

The first November weekend was upon them and only three weeks were left to the first task. Harry had seriously notched up their training regime, and now it wasn't just charms, hexes, and jinxes anymore, but actual physical training. He said that he had seen Viktor Krum do physical training and figured it would help her too, so now they were outside _very_ early on a Saturday morning and _jogging_ on Hogwarts' grounds. They were both dressed in Gryffindor Quidditch training gear – minus the guards and goggles.

Every muscle in her body was burning as she was drenched in sweat, her lungs felt like they were about to collapse, her ears felt hot and cold at the same time, and her nose was running faster than she did. She felt completely and utterly unattractive.

"I think that's enough for now," Harry said, looking hardly winded at all, which didn't surprise her whatsoever, considering his years of Quidditch training under Oliver Wood. It certainly did Harry a world of good, if his lean figure was anything to go by. He had filled out a bit compared to the incredibly skinny boy she remembered from her first Hogwarts year.

They stopped a ways away from the castle, beyond Hagrid's hut and at the forest's edge. She was about to sit down on the wet grass when Harry pulled her back up again. Mildly amused, she realized it was the first time he touched her on his own volition and probably didn't even mentally register that he did.

"Stretch first. Then we can sit down a bit if you want."

She couldn't help the whine escaping her but did as asked, following Harry's lead. "Do we really have to do this every morning now?"

Harry nodded. "You'll only profit. The tasks are going to be extremely physical, I'm sure. Hermione showed me a list of what the champions of the last few tournaments had to do." He switched into a different stretch and she followed suit. "They had to do things like...fighting manticores, doing underwater tasks and such stuff. You'll have to have good stamina at the very least."

Lavender paled. "I'm going to die." She seriously was. She was capable, she knew that, but she wasn't _this_ capable. She was no champion. She didn't do sports, she didn't survive deadly dangers every other year! Lavender Brown was good at Transfiguration, loved Divination, and was exceptional at applying cosmetic charms. That was all there was to her.

...she was also beautiful and a terrible gossip, but those things would be useless in this tournament, so there was no need to count them when going through her strengths.

She sat down, a shaky breath escaping her when Harry followed her example, sitting next to her.

"You won't die," he reassured, countering her fears in a serious tone. "I, Hermione, and Ron will do everything we can to get you through this alive. And you will. I promise."

She didn't care if she was all sweaty and sticky – she needed a hug, so she leaned over to Harry and got herself one. Just like right after the goblet ceremony, Harry stiffened up when she wrapped her arms around his neck. He also still did that awkward patting-her-back-thing instead of properly hugging her back, but it was okay. It served its purpose, and she felt a little bit better.

The Boy-Who-Lived might be the most awkward hugger she had ever encountered in her life, but he was also one of the nicest people – right after her mum, dad, both pairs of her grandparents, her uncles and aunts, her cousins...well, all of her family, really, Britannia and overseas.

Outside of her family though, he was right up there with her best friend Parvati. He didn't have to do any of what he was doing for her and, even more so, he didn't have to do it without expecting anything in return. He just offered his help and then followed up on his offer. Nothing more was said on that matter. Nothing at all.

This Boy-Who-Lived certainly seemed... _special_ would probably be the right word. She could tell after just a couple or so weeks of actually getting to know him. That 'special'-part didn't even have to do anything with how other people seemed to conceive it, with how _she_ used to conceive it.

After a very long few moments, she finally released her victim, who had to clear his throat several times. He always seemed to do that when he was nervous or uncomfortable, which most of the time – if her observations were correct – was when he got a lot of attention on him or after physical contact.

"Feel better?" He asked her, his voice slightly higher than usual.

"A bit," she said in-between giggles. "I'm still terrified. I...feel like a terrible Gryffindor for it, but…" She didn't know how to finish. It simply was how she felt.

"I'd be terrified too," Harry admitted, "and I'd probably think that you are very stupid if you weren't terrified."

"Then it's a good thing I am."

Harry nodded. "The more terrified you are, the harder you will work to survive."

"Look at you, Mister! Such wisdom." She giggled again.

"More like personal experience." Harry chuckled.

Her giggles subsided quickly when Harry said that, and she gave him a thoughtful look. "Can I ask why you and Ron and Hermione always get into trouble? Like, why not just stay out of it?"

Harry sighed. "It's not that easy. If I had...if I hadn't cared, then a first-year would have died during our second year."

 _Ginny Weasley_. "What about our teachers? They have more experience and everything. Why let a twelve-year-old do their job?"

"Again: it's not that easy. Believe me, I'd rather just relax and not almost die every other year, but it's not really something that's in my hands." He got back up to his feet and offered his hands for her to grab. "Come on, let's head back."

She took them gratefully, unsure if she would have had enough strength left in her muscles to get up on her own. She flashed him a dazzling smile. "Thanks."

"...welcome," he muttered.

They took a leisurely pace when heading back to the castle, walking at the Forbidden Forest's edge. The air was crisp and cold, the grass was wet with dew and the blue of the sky was hidden behind a thick cover of grey clouds. It was a typical, dreary Scottish November morning and yet, Lavender felt good. She was tired and cold and a feeling of terror was firmly lodged in her stomach, growing with every passing moment that brought the 24th of November closer. Still, _she felt good_.

"Thanks, Harry." She gave him a genuine smile – no teasing, nothing playful or even flirty. Just a genuine, heartfelt smile.

"What for?"

"For really trying to help me and really putting effort into it."

"I'm just doing what I think is right." He shrugged.

Lavender shook her head. He was _way_ too humble for his own good. She was about to lightly berate him for it, when something from the depths of the forest caught her eye. "Huh?"

"What is it?" Harry asked her curiously.

"I think there's something in...there, look!" she exclaimed, pointing at the bright flair she could just make out from the dark depths of the forest.

"Huh."

"That's what I said!" Lavender grinned at Harry.

"I'll look into it later," he said and kept on moving back to the castle.

Lavender quickly caught up to him, feeling severely disappointed. "I'll be honest: I expected…more."

"More of what?"

"More of The-Boy-Who lived going on another adventure."

Harry snorted. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to drag you into anything like that."

"Why?"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "I want you to just be Lavender."

Oh boy, _now_ she was curious. "What do you mean?"

Harry sighed, and it seemed to take him quite a bit to get the right words out. "You shouldn't...you shouldn't...even be in this whole situation...you should just be Lavender. You should just want fluffy things, believe in Trelawny's rubbish–" "Hey!" "–and just be, you know, _you_. No need for you to get into even more trouble than you already are in – thanks to this tournament – just because people might see you close by when _I_ break the rules."

"I hope the 'just me'-part is supposed to be positive."

He nodded once. "It is."

"Well, thank you then. That's sweet of you–" She couldn't wait to tell Parvati! "–but I still would have loved to see some Boy-Who-Lived action. You know, just so I can say things like 'I've seen the Boy-Who-Lived in action'."

"And there's another reason why you shouldn't be dragged into these kinds of things with us."

"Oh please!" Lavender whined. "It would be just a once in a lifetime thing." She inched closer to Harry, who eyed her warily, before she linked an arm through his, making his eyes widen in surprise. "I'm sure you'll protect me, Harry." He had surprisingly more muscle in his arms than she expected.

"I-I still don't...think th-that's a good idea. No." He tried to pull his arm away, but she wasn't ready to let go yet, and he gave up quickly enough.

"Ugh, _fine_ ," she relented, still with her arm linked through his.

But when Lavender Brown set her mind on something, she'd always find a way. It'd be no different this time.


	5. A Discovery And Accio

The past two weeks with Lavender had certainly been interesting. Harry actually got to know her as a person rather than an abstract idea based on Hermione's stories – which actually were more like complaints about her dorm-mates – and he had to admit she was a lot of fun to be around. A breath of fresh air, so to speak.

Her bubbly and giggly personality did manage to charm him, he had to admit. She took great joy in the smallest things but was also just as quickly crushed by them. She didn't seem to be doing the whole _feeling_ -thing half-arsed. It certainly was something that required major adjustments from all of them – even Hermione, who shared a dorm with Lavender but didn't spend any time with her otherwise – considering neither of them was particularly touchy-feely. Ron was too 'manly' to be so. It really was funny how awkward he could get when it came to this whole feelings-business.

Harry wasn't any better, though, but he knew that it came less from his own inert awkwardness and more from his years of living at Privet Drive. He simply was not used to be on the receiving end of any kinds of affection. Being around someone as Lavender was something akin to a culture shock. Even the most affectionate member of their Trio couldn't prepare him for the blonde whirlwind of emotions that was Lavender Brown. Hermione liked to give hugs here and there, but she was _extremely_ shy. From what he knew, her family life was very stable and loving, and her parents indulged their daughter's love for literature a lot and were open to her attending a magical school. However, Hermione was a victim of bullying throughout her childhood, which very likely was the reason behind her shyness.

Lavender simply soared through a different hemisphere when it came to feelings and stuff.

Harry didn't mind, though. It made her who she was and, once he actually took the effort to get to know her, he rather liked the person Lavender Brown.

Definitely more than the abstract idea, that much was certain.

However, Lavender Brown could also be just as stubborn as he was.

Earlier today, after their morning run, he had told her in no uncertain terms that she would be no part of their adventures. And yet, here she was, waiting for him in the common room while everyone else was asleep in their dorms.

"Mister Potter," she greeted him with a playful grin and a teasing lilt, sitting on one of the sofas with a leg crossed over the other, "I've been expecting you."

Her teasing and playfulness should be familiar to him by now – they'd spent almost all of their free time together these past two weeks after all – but it still made his throat close up and his face heat up.

"No." It was a single word with only a couple of letters, but more than enough to convey everything he wanted to get across at this moment.

"But _why_?" she whined, getting swiftly up to her feet and closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. "I'll be good! I promise. I'll follow your lead."

Harry sighed, getting a bit frustrated now.

...and distracted. She smelled _very_ flowery.

"Laven–"

"Also, if you don't let me come with you, I'll just follow you anyways."

He opened his mouth to retort but decided to just give up instead. "You are impossible."

"Is that a yes?" she asked excitedly. "I knew you'd see things my way!"

"It's not like you are leaving me much choice," he muttered. He moved his hands inside his jacket's pocket, pulling out his father's invisibility cloak. "You can't tell anybody about this, okay?"

Her eyes widened in wonder. "These are _so_ rare!"

He watched her hand reach out to touch the cloak, fingering the fabric. Not wanting to waste any more time, he threw it over her, then joined her under it. He felt his face heat up at the close proximity to the blonde witch, her scent – was it her perfume? – all the more powerful under the cloak. It was different, _so_ different to be here in this position with Lavender than it was with Hermione. "C'mon," he croaked out and cursed his nerves for the millionths time as he was clearing his throat.

"Lead the way, Harry." She grinned at him, looking more excited than she should.

He didn't say anything when he felt her hands grab his arm – not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. It still was entirely foreign to have someone touch him like that on _such_ a regular basis. Once again, he found himself comparing how different the things _she_ did were to when Hermione did them – like holding onto him or casually touching him. Hermione wasn't that touchy a person, to begin with, and when she _did_ touch him he never had his throat close up or skin heat up. It only ever happened with Lavender.

He tried to ignore the sensation of her hands on his arm. Still, he could feel it clearly, even through his jacket. Her thin fingers gripped him tightly, and that particular area on his arm she held onto felt distinctly warmer than the rest.

He led her through the darkened hallways of the castle. After years of sneaking about, he knew the fastest and safest routes leading outside by heart.

"How often have you done this?" she asked him in a hushed whisper, her breath tickling his cheeks.

It smelled like mint. He wished he had brushed his teeth too. "More often than I should have," he muttered in response.

"I don't think I'll ever do anything like this again. Just sneaking around past curfew is giving me anxiety," she whispered and inched closer to him, almost pressing herself into his side.

He didn't trust his voice enough to reply. Instead, he just focused on the task at hand and led them through a secret passage outside and onto Hogwarts' grounds.

"How did you know that was there?" Lavender asked him curiously, still keeping her voice low.

Harry just gave her a wry grin as his answer.

The night air was cold, the freezing temperatures stinging his face, and he could make out the condensation of both his and Lavender's breath beneath his invisibility cloak. They picked up the pace and made their way towards Hagrid's hut. Harry remembered they had to walk a bit beyond the giant man's home before they'd have to step into the forest.

"Have you been to the Forbidden Forest a lot?" Lavender asked.

"Twice, I think," Harry muttered, slowing down once they were past the first line of trees and inside the forest. He cast a _Lumos_ , using his free hand to hold the wand. She suddenly tensed up, her nails digging into his arm, and he was once again glad that he'd decided to wear a jacket. A jacket – it occurred to him – Lavender was missing, and he could feel her shivering beside him. "Are you cold?" he asked her, and she gave an emphatic nod.

After making sure they were alone, he got out from under the cloak and took off his jacket, offering it to her. She beamed at him in thanks once she took it and put it on, snuggling into the warmth it provided.

"Thank you very much, kind Sir."

He sighed in exasperation at her teasing tone and threw the cloak over them once more, this time really feeling the blonde's nails digging into his arm. For a brief moment, he realized that he never found out if Lavender had taken care of that chipped nail polish she had complained about midweek. He dismissed that thought quickly again. It wasn't important right now.

"Have you ever seen any creatures in here?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper again. "It's so creepy…"

"Both times, yes," Harry admitted, thinking back to his first and second year in Hogwarts.

"Like what?"

He hesitated at first. Then, he was about to answer but ended up deciding against it regardless. "You are better off not knowing."

She pressed herself even closer to his side, both her arms now fully wrapped around his. "That's not making me feel better."

"Sorry," he muttered.

They kept on walking farther into the forest, the only sounds coming from the crunching of dead leaves and fallen twigs beneath their boots.

Lavender then pointed to a spot ahead of them, a bit farther to the left. "There."

He followed her pointing finger – the polish was not chipped anymore, he noted idly – with his eyes and saw something illuminate the deep darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

They marched towards the flaring illumination with a brisker pace. Neither of them commented on the roars they started to hear, but Lavender's nervousness was evident by the imprints of her fingernails she was desperately trying to leave on his arm. The smell of burned wood got stronger with every step, and he was certain that he saw charred bark on some of the trees. Harry finally figured out what exactly they had been seeing this whole time: columns of fire.

"Nox," whispered Harry and slowed down considerably, gradually and carefully creeping near to what appeared to be a clearance. They passed a thicket of bushes and trees and the cold air started to feel distinctly hotter. Both of them gasped in shock the moment they saw the reason: there were four dragons, controlled by a group of handlers, roaring and snapping, spitting columns of fire all around them.

"Oh no," Lavender gasped.

Harry looked at her: she was whimpering and shivering, her mouth was agape and her eyes wide in terror, and she had her arms wrapped around her midriff, reminding him of the day her name came out of the goblet. Without really thinking about it, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders after she had released it, and led her back to the path they came from, away from the creatures and their handlers. He pulled the cloak off the both of them, holding onto it. He wasn't sure if Lavender's violent shivering came from the cold, but if her wide eyes and gasping breaths were any indicators, he'd doubt it.

"I'm going to die, Harry. I'm literally going to die. I'm going to get burned alive or eaten. Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, _ohMerlinohMerlinohMerlin_ …"

"It's going to be okay, Lavender," he whispered to her, unsure of what else to do. "I know you are strong. _You_ know you are strong!"

Harry made out sniffles in the darkness of the forest. "Hug me already, you idiot!" Lavender said in a small, teary voice, and he felt himself react, embracing her the moment her arms reached around his neck. He suppressed the urge to pat her back. Instead, he opted to tighten his arms around her to just let her have the cry she clearly needed. It was obvious how utterly terrified she was, and he couldn't fault her for it.

She was tightly pressed against him and her flowery fragrance invaded his senses. He could feel the wetness from her tears on his neck, he could feel her breasts through his jacket pushing against his chest. The night was freezing cold, yet her breath against his throat felt burning hot. Their hips were dangerously close to each other, and he was hyper-aware of that fact, trying to inch away, just a bit, but Lavender was latched onto him with a strength that surprised him.

Here she was, utterly terrified and relying on him for comfort, and he...he was having reactions. Reactions that made him stiffen, and he wasn't talking about his body in general. _That_ would make sense. The... _other_ stiffening didn't. Well, it did, it just wasn't appropriate given the circumstances.

So he did what he had to do and thought of Vernon. Then of Filch. Then, his thoughts took him to Snape. It was a cruel thing to do to himself, but, as Vernon would put it: a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Lavender didn't really, actually cry either. There were no sobs wracking through her. Instead, with every whimper and every shaky breath escaping her, he felt her body shiver violently.

"What am I supposed to do, Harry?" she asked pitifully. "I can't handle dragons! I don't know what to do…"

"We'll figure it out," he reassured her. "Don't worry about it."

His words sounded hollow even to him. He was pretty sure she'd be worrying about it until the first task was over.

* * *

Harry was having trouble concentrating. The reason was sitting a couple of chairs to the right and two rows in front of him in charms class. His head was propped up on his hand as he was glancing at her direction. She was giggling again with Parvati – ambient noise. Her hair was braided and she wore it over a shoulder. He realized how particularly soft and silky it looked today. It suited her. Her skin _always_ looked soft and silky after all. He also noted idly that her hairband today was turquoise in colour.

Recently, Lavender's been constantly on his thoughts for multiple reasons. For one, he'd learned, she was a very nice and happy girl. She was fun to be around and her smile was like sun rays breaking through a cloudy sky and making everything warmer.

He shook his head. That thought would be one of those he'd be taking to his grave with him. Returning his attention back to more important things, he looked again at the blonde witch.

She didn't deserve to be in a position that forced her to fight dragons. Draco Malfoy would be more fitting, and it would be almost poetic too. The little, slimy, blonde dragon fighting actual dragons. He briefly wondered if all that oil in Malfoy's hair was flammable. At least she appeared to be back to her usual self after her panic attack in the forest. He wasn't sure how exactly she had bounced back, but he sure was glad she did.

Anyways. Yes, he was extremely worried about Lavender. So much so, it made his stomach clench in painful knots. He wondered how it was ever possible for her name to come out of that goblet, how it was possible to confuse his name with hers.

He didn't know what he'd do if something were to ever happen to Lavender. It was a bit unfair that only after something like this transpired did he actually start to pay attention to her and care about her. Before, he always ignored the blonde witch. Now, he saw the beautiful girl with a fun personality she actua–

"Mr Potter!"

He was startled out of his thoughts by Mr Flitwick's call of his name and Hermione's prodding of his side.

"Please do pay attention to class, Mr Potter. These wand-movements are quite important. 5 points from Gryffindor."

His face flushed in embarrassment at the annoyed muttering from his house-mates, and he sat up to try and concentrate.

"What's going on with you?" Hermione asked in a whisper from his left.

"Nothing," he muttered his response, glaring at his desk to hide his mortifying blush.

"You've been out of it the whole day. Since the weekend actually."

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and saw her squinting at him, clearly trying to figure out his problem. Dread was forming in his stomach. On top of the worrisome stomach knots for Lavender, he was now also having dread build up because Hermione was going to figure out his Lavender-related problems. He, Harry Potter, was going to get a stomach ulcer at age fourteen.

"You were fine when you went to the forest with Lavender...it can't be about the dragons either, you'd just be focused and not distracted…"

She scooted a bit closer to him and followed his line of sight, which he quickly averted to the tiny Professor and the pile of books he was standing on, but it was too late.

"Oh–"

He slumped down on his chair in resignation and with a frown on his face, as he felt the furious flush spread across his features.

"–my God, Harry."

He glanced at the bushy-haired witch at his side, who just stared ahead at the blackboard and Professor Flitwick's notes. All he could do was mentally groan at the faint blush on her cheeks and that infuriating smile she so miserably failed to suppress.

* * *

" _Accio_ pillow!" he shouted and easily snatched the pillow floating at his direction out of the air.

" _Accio_ Harry's pillow!"

He sighed as his pillow flew from his hand towards a certain blonde with a turquoise hairband. " _Why_? You have your own pillow right there."

"Give me a good reason _why not_ ," Lavender challenged him, throwing his pillow back at him with a teasing grin before resting her hand on her cocked hip.

"Because you have a pillow right there," Harry pointed out dryly. _Again_

"That's not a good reason, though."

Harry was about to retort again but simply decided not to instead. He tossed his pillow back onto the ground a ways ahead of him and summoned it once more. He became rather proficient with this charm since they started practising during the weekend after his and Lavender's nightly outing.

"This is interesting," Hermione said from her position on one of the tables with a book about dragons on her lap. "Multiple male dragons can fight over one female and it can result in death for several of the males."

"Sounds familiar." Parvati giggled with Lavender quickly joining in.

Harry, however, scowled and concentrated on practising his summoning, pointedly ignoring Hermione's _fun facts_.

Ron though seemed to be trying to partake in the _fun_. "Charlie once said that a female dragon injured a male during...when they…" He muttered the rest in such a low voice, Harry wasn't sure if any of them heard.

"Oh yes," Hermione picked up where Ron left off, "it says here…'Breeding dragons are highly aggressive. The larger females oftentimes try to bite the smaller males. Females have been witnessed to stop a breeding male in the middle of the act and chase them away. Dragonologists theorize it may be a way for female dragons to guarantee the strongest possible genes for their young."

"Could you maybe just read _actually useful_ things out loud?" Harry asked. "Like, what are their weaknesses?"

"I'm getting there Harry," Hermione said innocently. "Here…'Dragons have a highly developed sense of smell. When the females are ready to breed–'"

"Alright, I think this is enough for today," Harry announced loudly.

"Does this charm work on people?" Lavender suddenly asked, and Harry gave her a curious look.

"Dunno."

" _Accio_ Harry!" the blonde exclaimed with her wand pointed at him.

His eyes shot wide open when a sudden pull dragged him to the witch. He tried to dodge her but couldn't fight the magic. Crashing into her, he at least did his best to be the first one on the ground, so, as quickly as he could, he grabbed her waist and turned them around. He landed painfully on his back, a groan escaping him.

"My hero," a breathless voice whispered into his ear before it took on that familiar teasing lilt again. "You can let go of me now, you know. You saved me from being crushed already."

His face bright red, he released his hold on her as if he got burned – the feel of her soft waist on his hands memorized – and tried to apologize but all that came out was incoherent stuttering.

Lavender got up from him, the loss of her weight on him more prominent than he expected it to be, and dusted off her school uniform. Once done, she looked at the snickering audience with a pretty blush on her cheeks. "Don't _accio_ people, children. It's very dangerous."

"Except, " Hermione said, fixing Harry with a deviously gleeful expression, "if you–"

"Accio book behind Hermione's head!" Harry hurriedly shouted with a glare.

"–want to mate–OW!"

"And not all of us can have the ever-so chivalrous Boy-Who-Lived save us, can we?" Parvati giggled, and Lavender wasted no time to join in as she held out a hand for Harry to help him up.

He took it with a muttered ' _thanks_ ', and she gifted him a brilliant smile in return, which sent his heart racing. Her hand was soft and warm, and, once he was back on his feet, he didn't want to let it go. Still, he did.

"Nuh-uh, this one's mine," Lavender said to Parvati's comment.

Harry blinked at her in confusion, not sure what to make of _that_ statement.


	6. Lavender Brown's Swan Song – Or Not

Waking up, it took a moment for Lavender to realize that today was _the_ day – the day she would die. Unfortunately, she wouldn't die of old age, surrounded by her husband and children and grandchildren. That was still many, many years away. She would, also, never see that day. No, she, Lavender Brown, would die at age fourteen. She, Lavender Brown, was going to be eaten by a dragon later today.

She wanted to cry.

She couldn't believe that this was going to be the thing that people would remember her by. It wouldn't be her lovely personality, it wouldn't be her impeccable charms handiwork, it wouldn't be her looks, it wouldn't be her wardrobe. Instead, people would remember: Lavender Brown, eaten by a dragon.

She wanted to puke.

Sitting up on her bed, she looked around to see that she had been left to herself in the dormitory. They probably had done so to give her a good night's rest, to ensure that she would be well-rested and ready to face her task head-on. If only they knew.

With a mournful sigh, she got up and went to grab her toiletries. She loved to shower and this would be her last. Wiping away a stray tear and sniffing delicately, she stripped off her pyjamas and underwear, charmed any body-hair away effortlessly and stepped in, allowing the warm water to wash over her. She watched as the water disappeared down in the drain and wished she could follow it wherever it went – then she snorted. It probably went into the lake and who knew what lurked down there. _Ugh_.

Once showered and her hair charmed dry, she went back to her room, wearing only her birthday suit. She had always wanted to just spend a day walking around naked like this but had never had that chance; _always_ and _never_ being around half a year, maybe. It was a bit of a thrill, admittedly, and also weirdly freeing. Just she and her body, unhidden. She could at least scratch that from her mental bucket list of things she wanted to do before she died. It would be a bit of cheating because she wasn't doing it the whole day – not even five minutes because she had her knickers already pulled up – but still, she had walked around naked when, usually, she wouldn't. _Yay me._

Getting dressed for the last time, putting on her make-up for the last time and choosing her hairband of the day for the last time, Lavender still felt not ready. Stepping out of the security of this room would be like signing her last will.

Speaking of, for a moment she wondered if she should take the time to do that. Then again, what did she even have in her name to put in a will? Life hadn't given her the chance to fulfil her dream of opening her own pet store in Diagon Alley. There was nothing in her life she owned which was of considerable monetary value, and fantasies and imaginations she, unfortunately, hadn't been given the chance to fulfil. Only a first kiss she had experienced and that had been wasted on _Seamus_ of all people. Cute as he was, he was also on his path to becoming a philanderer. _Ugh_. While she didn't particularly care about virginities and such, she'd still have liked to have had her first kiss with someone who would have cared at least.

It didn't matter anymore, though. She was going to die later anyway.

She didn't want to die, she would do all she could to survive, but her chances were, realistically, quite low. _She_ versus a _dragon_?

_Ugh._

* * *

"How do you feel, Lavender?"

Lavender sat down at the Gryffindor table, next to Parv and across from Gryffindor's resident trio of adventurers. "The way I look," she said with a deadpan stare at Hermione. _I look terrible today._

Hermione blinked a couple of times. "Umm...not a hair out of place? Flawless, like always?" She then turned to Harry. "What do _you_ think, Harry?" she asked him in a disgustingly sugary voice. She didn't know Hermione had it in her.

The Boy-Who-Lived just choked on his eggs, his face turning red. Thanks to Ron's vicious slaps on Harry's back, she could ignore the faint twinge of worry and just chuckle. Once.

"I feel terrible," Lavender then admitted out loud. "I know I'm going to get eaten by a dragon. I just hope I get swallowed whole and not in pieces."

"Gosh, that's morbid," Hermione said, looking surprised and alarmed.

"Such is my fate, I guess," she said, her voice oddly disconnected from the situation for a moment. "I wished Professor Trelawney could have prepared me for this, though."

Hermione was just about to retort, Lavender saw her already open her mouth and raise her index finger, but her favourite Boy-Who-Lived stepped in just in time to save the day.

"You'll be okay, Lavender," Harry said, looking at her earnestly while also trying to be the motivator. "I know it. You're strong and talented and if _you_ can't do it no one can."

He earned himself quite the surprised looks, one coming from her, and once he realized it, he blushed and concentrated on his empty plate. It then appeared to register in his brain that his plate was empty, so he promptly started to fill it with food again. Lavender had to wonder if he could force himself to down another huge plate of eggs and sausages.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, smiling. "That's...very sweet of you to think so."

He just muttered something inaudible, ignoring Hermione's faint and barely suppressed smile and Ron's confused look. Lavender had to suppress her giggle.

She then turned serious and looked at her best friend. This was going to be important and significant. "Parv, when I die, you can have my whole wardrobe." There. She said it.

Parvati looked surprised and had a hand on her chest. Her chin wobbled and she shook her head. "Lav, that's – I just, I couldn't!"

She looked sadly at her friend and pulled her into a hug. "I know you'll treat it with the care and respect it deserves, Parv. There's no one else who'd deserve my clothes as much as you do," she said, squeezing her arms around Parvati.

"I love you so much, Lav!" Parvati said, sniffling into her neck.

"Love you too, bestie," she whispered. Oh, how she'd miss her. They had wanted to be each other's chief bridesmaids. Now they'd never get that chance. Ripped away had it been from them. She could only hope for some karmic or cosmic justice for whoever was responsible for her situation.

"I think it's time to go," Hermione said suddenly and the scraping of chairs on the ground could be heard.

She didn't want to let Parvati go, she didn't want to meet the _actual_ champions, she didn't want to face a dragon.

Several hands, of what she assumed to be Gryffindors, were clapping her on her back in encouragement and she wanted to shout at them to go away. To them, it was all still some sort of game.

Parvati squeezed her tightly, then retracted herself from the hug. "You'll make it, Lav. I know you will."

"Don't forget the plan, Lavender," Harry said and she nodded. "Everything's ready and prepared since yesterday. One spell and you are good to go."

She just nodded, gave a weak wave as they joined the rest of the student body, watched the people around her head out and the champions be collected by the teaching staff.

"Miss Brown."

Lavender was startled when she heard Professor McGonagall.

"It's time for you to head to the tent."

She nodded at the worried and grim-looking professor and got up, her heart beating ever faster. She wanted to survive. She didn't care how. She didn't care about winning, about fame or glory or anything else of that sort.

She just wanted to survive.

* * *

So, she had the Welsh Green. Now, if only that information _wouldn't_ mean literally nothing to her.

At least she wouldn't have to wait forever until it was her turn.

She watched the tiny, animated dragon toy walking in the palm of her hand, roaring in its tiny, adorable way. If it were a bit fluffier and less lizardy, she might have fallen in love with it.

The roars of the dragon Cedric was going up against and the cheers of the crowd were making her anxious and she hated it. Her foot was rapidly tapping on the ground and she was chewing on her lower lip. The other two champions were ignoring her, thankfully. She neither needed nor wanted their attention on her, especially that French tart's. Just seeing her here again made her remember the comments from back when her name had been drawn. _I'll show you just how I will matter._

A new wave of determination washed through her, but that evaporated as quickly as it came because the crowd cheered loudly. She had a feeling that Cedric had completed the task.

 _Oh, Merlin._ Soon it was going to be her turn. Soon she would have to steal a golden egg right from under a nesting mother dragon.

_They are crazy. Absolutely crazy._

She heard the bang of the canon and the dread she had been feeling the entire day now hit her a thousandfold.

She felt herself go pale in an instant. Stiffly and on shaky legs did she exit the tent, ignoring the heavily accented _'good luck'_ from Krum and the chuckle from the other one.

The walk to the _death pit_ was over too soon and she jumped a little when the gate behind her closed with a loud _clang_ the moment she stepped through. The pit still looked fairly okay. A bit of scorched earth on the far end, a broken boulder close to the nest, but, aside from that, everything looked fine. At least, as fine as it was possible for an arena like this. Her wand-hand – no, her whole body was shaking violently when she saw the dragon. It was curled up around its eggs on the nest. Green scales were shimmering faintly under the late autumn sun, a lazy eye opened to look at her. Lavender froze on the spot.

_Bad eyesight, bad eyesight, bad eyesight!_

She took a breath to calm herself. It didn't help, but she still forced herself to take another step. Then, another thought occurred to her. Dragons might have bad eyesight, but their sense of smell was extraordinary. It probably had already smelled her out in the arena. She swallowed thickly.

"A-accio per-perfume," Lavender stammered in a whisper, her wand raised and her wide-open and fearful eyes locked onto the beast in front of her. She could tell that she failed and she could tell that she had gained the Welsh Green's attention.

It raised its head and looked at her with both eyes open now. Even from the distance – she at one end of the pit and the dragon at the other, far end of it – she could hear it sniffing around. Its snout didn't stray away from her general direction. Then, without any warning, it opened its maw and shot a narrow, weak and lazy jet of fire at her, making her quickly dodge with a surprised shriek. She could hear the murmurs and even the odd laughter coming from the audience.

 _Jerks_.

She'd like to see them laugh when standing right in front of that dragon. Said dragon still was looking at her. However, now it was standing, its four legs looking powerful and deadly, the claws digging into the dirt.

"Accio perfume!" The increasing panic and fear made her somehow think and act with more clarity. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe something else.

The dragon cocked its head after hearing her voice again, taking a thundering step towards her and she quickly took a step back. The growls coming deeply from the dragon's throat were an obvious threat and she'd love nothing more than to leave it and its unhatched babies alone, but she couldn't. What made its clear threat worse, however, was the now increasing excitement in the stands following it.

"Accio perfume!" she said again. " _Accio perfume!_ "

Her rising panic was apparently agitating the dragon as well, because it took another, more aggressive step towards her. A narrow jet of fire followed, she rolled out of the way, scraping the palm of her hand on a pebble. Glancing at her hand, she was glad it didn't bleed and was just burning superficially. She didn't want to find out how a dragon would react to the smell of blood.

The dragon kept its eyes on her, apparently not daring to stray too far from its eggs.

"Accio perfume!" She shouted again, hoping beyond hope –

A pink bottle flew towards her, a cry of relief escaping her when she caught it midair. " _Finally_!" She was about to unscrew it, but a jet of fire was aimed at her again, a couple more following it in quick succession. The longer this took, the more aggressive the dragon was getting. The arena was heating up as well. She shot the dragon a glance, then dashed behind a rock close to her, unscrewing it. She could tell the dragon was walking towards her, quickly, because of the heavy steps shaking the ground. A bout of panic surged through her, the dragon roared close by and she didn't dare to look past the rock.

_The plan, the plan, the plan!_

She threw the bottle in the dragon's general direction and ran the moment she heard it break, the dragon's focus now drawn by the overwhelming scent of the perfume. She didn't look, only heard another jet of fire being shot. She ran towards the nest with all she had, praying to any deities she could think of to just let her grab that egg. The angry and confused roars of the dragon still sounded far enough from her to make her feel safe and the egg was _so close now_. She reached the nest, grabbed the golden egg, dashed towards the exit and screamed when a searing and burning pain flared from her calf all the way down to her ankle. She fell to the ground, turned to see the Welsh Green charging at her with unbridled fury. Her eyes widened as she saw her life flash right before her eyes, frozen in fear and panic.

Suddenly, dragon handlers dashed in, one grabbing her below her arms to help her up while the others threw a flurry of spells at it.

Then, the gate closed and she was free.

She had done it. She had gotten the egg and survived.

Then the pain registered again and everything went black.


	7. Everything Is Great Now

She had to blink several times before she regained her bearings and it was then that the pain in her leg made itself known again.

A whimper escaped her and she slowly realized that she had been lain on her belly. " _Owwww…_ " It wasn't as bad as before, but the burning sensation still was quite painful.

She tried to look back to see her calf, but all she could make out were lots of bandages around it.

_"Lavender!"_

The sudden shout of her name had her startled and she could hear Madam Pomfrey's angry mutterings when the flap of the tent she, apparently, had been carried into got pushed open. Stepping in was none other than a frantic looking Harry Potter.

"Mr Potter," the medi-witch said, her annoyance clear in her voice, "I can assure you that Miss Brown is perfectly fine and that there is no reason for you to _barge_ in here and _disrupt_ my care for the champions."

"I'm not fine, though," Lavender said, the reality of what had happened starting to hit her. "I'm going to get scars, aren't I?" Tears were threatening to spill. "My leg is going to scar! My leg is going to look hideous!"

Madam Pomfrey sounded less than amused. "Your leg won't have any scarring. You're lucky it wasn't such a bad burn that we couldn't heal it enough to avoid scarring. Skin discolouration is the worst you will have, even though it was dragon fire." She then sighed and walked in front of her, so that Lavender could see her now. "Potential scarring should be the least of your worries, Miss Brown. You just stood in front of a _dragon_."

Lavender just ignored the last part. She wouldn't get scars, just a bit of discoloured skin. She could live with that. A sigh of pure and utter relief escaped her and all the anxiety and stress had left her body and she suddenly felt _so_ tired. She survived the task. She made it out without any scars.

"I'm so glad you are okay," she heard Harry say. All the worries about potential scars almost had her forget the poor boy.

Lavender turned her head to look at him, resting her chin on her arms. "Thanks for worrying so much about me, kind Sir," she said with a grin. She would be lying if she said that it didn't feel fantastic to know that Harry was that scared for her wellbeing.

He sat down on a chair next to her bed, much to Madam Pomfrey's annoyance, but Lavender didn't care at all about the medi-witch's opinion on that matter. She looked at him expectantly, but after his initial worries had been put to rest, he appeared to be back to his adorable, dorky, awkward self. He glanced at her, then stared at his lap, and, if her eyes weren't betraying her, she was sure she could make out a faint rosy dusting on his cheeks.

"It should've been me down there," he said, his voice low and barely audible. "It...it felt terrible to watch you go up against that dragon."

Lavender was silent. She didn't know what to say, so she reached her hand out and grabbed Harry's. He shot her a glance and then went back to look at his lap, though with a small smile which she could just about make out.

"Does your leg hurt?" he asked her.

Lavender shrugged. "A lot. It feels like a constant burning. I have very low pain tolerance, though."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah?"

Lavender grinned. "Two years ago – one of my cousin's is married to a muggle – I tried to cook like muggles and nicked a finger with a knife. I ended up crying – it hurt, though! – my mum ran into the kitchen to see what happened and when she saw that tiny cut on my index finger, she's just like _'one day you'll end up scaring me to death, Lavender!'"_

Harry openly laughed now while shaking his head. "Then we'll all have to wrap you in a thick layer of cotton so you'll never get hurt."

"I can handle a bit of pain!" Lavender said in mock indignation. Then, she cocked her head to the side in thought. "I honestly think it's the initial shock of the pain that kind of does me in, rather than the pain itself. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I think it does."

They then reached a bit of a lull in their conversation, but she didn't mind. She was still holding hands with Harry. He was such a sweet guy. She had to admit that she regretted the past three years a bit because she had barely paid him any attention at that time. Now, here he was, holding her hand. Or, rather, she was holding his. Still, though. It was comfort and comfort was what she wanted.

Harry then cleared his throat. "Your, uh, your points –"

"I don't care, Harry," she interrupted him and squeezed his hand. She looked him in the eyes when he gave her a surprised look. "I honestly don't. I just want to get through the tasks. Preferably without getting scars to ruin my looks. No offence," she added, her eyes landing on his forehead.

Harry just chuckled. "Eh. None taken."

"I'm not saying that scars ruin looks in general." She shrugged. "I just can't make them look good. Where're the others, by the way?" she asked, looking around, only now realizing that neither Parv nor Harry's sidekicks were anywhere to be seen.

The Boy-Who-Lived suddenly looked a bit bashful, scratching the back of his head with a low, shy laugh. "I, uh, might've rushed here from the stands when the dragon got you...so, I dunno where the others are."

Now, didn't that make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside! She grinned at him. "That so? You ran all the way from the stands, just to see if poor me was okay?"

"Uh – I-I –"

"Lav!"

Letting her hand go as if burned, Harry was saved from answering by Parvati, who ran inside and dropped onto her knees next to the bed. Lavender was a bit surprised to see that Parv had actual tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm okay, Parv," Lavender said, now reaching for her best friend's hand. "Madam Pomfrey said that it's only going to be a bit discoloured. No scars!"

Parvati squeezed her hand in return, her shoulders sagging in obvious relief. "Oh _gooosh_ , I was so scared! I'm just so happy you are okay…"

"You just survived a dragon and were worried about a _scar_?"

Lavender looked up at Hermione, who came in to visit with Parvati. "Well, _duh_. I don't want all of my skincare thrown out of the window because of a scar."

Hermione rolled her eyes but then smiled. "For what it's worth, you did pretty well."

"Thanks!"

"Don't you want to know your points?" Ron asked.

Lavender shook her head. "I don't care. I don't care about winning this." She dropped her head onto her free arm and felt her eyelids droop a bit. A yawn escaped her. She was so tired. "I just want this to be over and for things to return to normal."

"Fair enough," Ron said. She could practically feel his shrug.

She could also feel Harry's eyes on her. Opening one eye a bit, she sought him out and, yes, he was watching her. She wondered if he wanted her to hold his hand again. She sure hoped so.

Lavender smiled. She couldn't help it. The stress of this first task was over. She had done it and bested a dragon. She had made it out without a single scar – sure, skin discolouration wasn't great, but she could live with that.

She could finally allow herself to relax a bit and, already, she could feel the fatigue of the past days and weeks catch up with her. A nap certainly sounded great right about now.

* * *

The only reason she even knew about her last spot in the ranking was because of Malfoy's jeers, but who cared? What was important was normalcy! How she had missed it. The week after the task was one of the best she had had the pleasure of experiencing. It hadn't been so great because something outstanding had happened. It hadn't been so great because she had seen or done something special. No, it had been great because it was _normal_ – or more normal than this term had been so far. The first task had been the big topic throughout, but that was fine with her. There was no more potential death by becoming dragon food looming over her, so they could talk about it all they wanted now.

One thing still bothered her though.

"Harry still hasn't asked me to be his date for the Yule Ball."

Parvati and she were sitting in the common room, working on their homework, when she brought that up. It _really_ bothered her. She had hope that Harry was, at least a bit, attracted to her. She had caught him staring more than once and he would be blushing a lot around her. But he still hadn't asked her to go to the ball with him.

Parvati shrugged. "He's _super_ shy. He never might ask you."

"Ugh." Parvati was probably right. "I won't wait forever, though. I _have_ to prepare for it after all."

"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess." Her best friend went back to her homework.

Lavender glanced at the infernal trio across the common room and, yes, once again she had caught Harry looking at her. She grinned at him and threw him a wink, causing him to blush immediately and return his attention back to his own homework. These, by now, common occurrences were exactly why she was sure that the Boy-Who-Lived liked her. It made her feel giddy and it was exciting, but it was also frustrating. She didn't want to take the first step. She wanted to be wanted, to be desired, to be chased. She wanted a boy to _show_ her that he wanted her, to put effort into getting her. But Harry wasn't a guy to just come and sweep her off her feet, she was certain of that by now. He was the kind of guy who needed prodding and probing, who needed to be nudged in the right direction. At least when it came to girls. When it came to his adventures, she was sure he was more than assertive. _Ugh_. He should be seeing _her_ as an adventure. She'd definitely spice his life up without putting him in mortal danger.

"Hey."

Lavender looked away from Harry to see an upperclassman standing by their table. "Yes?"

"You're Lavender Brown, right?" he asked her.

She raised a brow. "I am."

He grinned at her cockily. "I wanted to ask if you'd like to go to the ball with me."

"No, sorry." She then turned away from him and towards Parv, only hearing his angry muttering growing fainter as he likely left. "Why can't Harry ask me like that?" she asked her best friend.

Parvati just giggled. "Do you fancy him or something?"

Lavender thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Not really, no." She took another moment to think. "He's cute. Kind of dorky. Fun to tease."

"And he obviously cares about you," Parv said with another giggle. "He's looking again," she added, nudging her with her elbows.

" _Exactly!"_ Lavender folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them, turning to look at Parvati. "I mean, if he were to ask me to the ball and if he, then, happened to be a fun date, then I wouldn't mind seeing where it could lead, you know?"

"I hear you, bestie." Parvati sighed and leaned back into her chair. "It's in _his_ hands, though. If he really wants to, then he'll summon that Gryffindor courage and ask you to be his date for the ball. If not, then it's his loss, not yours."

"Yeah," Lavender said with a sigh of her own. She turned her head to seek out Harry again, who smiled at something Ron said. "He's really cute, though."

"That he is," Parvati agreed. "Still – he definitely needs a new wardrobe."

"Yep. I'd totally love to go on a shopping spree with him."

* * *

Early December at Hogwarts was always a time she enjoyed. The Christmas atmosphere was everywhere – decorated trees, tables, _everything_. It was gorgeous, it was beautiful, it was uplifting. Plus, as much as she loved wearing her light robes for summer, she also loved just being wrapped up in cosy, fluffy jumpers and scarfs and wool socks. Every season had its advantages and every season was fashionable in its own, unique way.

"Have you tried opening the egg, yet?" Hermione asked one afternoon during dinner.

Lavender blinked at her, chewing her food slowly with a hand covering her mouth, then shook her head after swallowing. " _No_. You do realize that the Yule Ball is right around the corner, do you?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to blink in bewilderment. "Some fancy dance isn't more important than the task!"

"Maybe not in general, but it is more important _now_ ," Lavender argued. "You've got to learn to manage your priorities a bit better, Hermione."

"But –"

"Nu-uh," she said while wagging a finger in front of Hermione. "Always having that single-minded focus on something isn't good for your mental health, you know?"

"Yep," Parvati said, always there to back her up. "You've got to give yourself time to focus on fun things as well."

"That goes for you, too, Mister," she said, this time looking at Harry, who looked _adorkable_. She had seemingly surprised and startled him when she had suddenly addressed him, considering he was looking at her with stuffed cheeks and wide eyes. She couldn't hide her smile. "I might be wrong, but, from what I can tell, you also focus on these things way too much and forget to have fun along the way."

Harry swallowed his food, then shrugged. "Dunno."

"You should care about the ball, for example. Have a date in mind yet?" she asked him, totally inconspicuously.

Parvati snorted and even Hermione couldn't hide her mirth.

"I-I…" He swallowed thickly and tucked at his collar as if he suddenly felt too hot. "I-I've got to go and write a letter…"

He hastily got up from his chair, bumped his knee against the table and spilt his pumpkin juice over Ron's plate, who pushed his chair away from the table with a yelp and such force that he and his chair fell backwards with a crash.

She, Parvati and Hermione all had their open mouths covered with a hand, while the Great Hall openly erupted in loud laughter.

Harry, now beet-red, helped his friend up, then muttered something inaudible and quickly disappeared.

Lavender, now openly laughing herself, hoped that that letter would be about her.


End file.
